The 'Generation Stuck' in Alfreton and Their £500m Properties
Many of Alfreton's mature homeowners are stuck in their oversized homes. Their children flew the nest years ago, yet they are unable to find suitable properties to move to. Are Alfreton’s ‘Generation Stuck’ holding back those younger ‘Generation Renters’ from moving into the larger homes they need?. What is the answer to this problem? Read on...
By Daren Cope
The predicament of the Alfreton 20 to 30 year olds who rent and their inability to get onto the housing ladder is often one which is discussed in the media.
There are 4.43m properties in the UK that are still in the private rented sector compared to 2.13m in 2002. The group of people in their 20's and 30’s, who rent from a private landlord, are often called ‘Generation Rent’.
Yet, would it surprise you that since 2017, the number of UK households in the private rented sector has reduced by 260,000 whilst the number of homeowners has increased by 1.1m?
Not ‘Generation Rent’, but ‘Generation Stuck’
'Generation Stuck' are the middle-aged and mature homeowners in the Alfreton area. They are the generation that could be described as late ‘Baby Boomers’ (born in late 1950s and early 1960s) and the early ‘Generation X’ (born in the mid 1960s to early 1970s).
These 50 to 64 year old people feel stuck in their homes, and therefore I have nicknamed them ‘Generation Stuck’. Their inability to move could be holding back the younger ‘Generation Renters’ in our local area
So, let me look at the numbers involved. In Alfreton, there are around 1,500 households, whose owners are aged between 50 and 64 years old and have mortgages on their properties. These properties are worth around £205m.
There are an additional 2,200 mortgage free households, owned by 50 to 64 year olds, worth £295m, which means that the Alfreton ‘Baby Boomers’ and ‘Generation X ‘are sitting on £500m worth of property in the Alfreton area.
According to the most receCensus, 47.8% of homes occupied by 50 to 64 year olds have two or more spare bedrooms. This is backed up by the annual English Housing Survey that states nationally, 49% of properties occupied by these ‘Generation Stuck’ are ‘under-occupied’. Under-occupied is categorised as having at least two spare bedrooms.
Looking at the statistics closer to home, 48.5% of Amber Valley 50 to 64 year olds have two or more spare bedrooms, making it the 183rd highest local authority in the country - out of 348 local authorities in total.
The rising number of older Alfreton homeowners who want to downsize their home are often held back by the lack of suitable housing options for older people and the difficulties of moving. Lots of over 50 year olds cannot move home in the way that they would like, due to a lack of suitable housing options and so can find themselves ‘stuck’ in homes which are no longer suitable for them as they get older.
Only 1 in 29 people over the age of 50 move home each year, compared to 1 in 15 for the rest of the population.
Helping mature homeowners (Generation Stuck) to downsize their homes at the right time will also allow younger people (Generation Rent) to find the family homes they need – meaning every generation wins, both young and old.
However, to ensure downsizing works, we need more choices for these “last-time-buyers”. That means building more bungalows or more ground floor
apartments suitable for the middle to older generation.
One way this could be done is by changing the planning rules to force builders to incorporate a proportion of these types of properties in any new housing developments, whilst the other could be the changing of the stamp duty tax breaks for downsizers.
In this way, older people will be more able to move into homes which suit their specific needs, improve their quality of life whilst meeting their goals in life, all without them becoming detached from their friends and family locally in the Alfreton area.
These are my thoughts, please let me know yours.